A European walk through Bordeaux 11
11
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Rogers’ Law Courts (1997),
Corner of Rue des
Frères Bonie and Cours d’Albret.
Before this building, no new judicial structure
had been built in Bordeaux
for 150 years. A site became
available at the rear of
the old law courts (Thiac 1847), at what is a historical location for the
city. The only condition was
that the twin towers of the old Fort du Hâ, which date back to the 15th century, be left
untouched. In the late
1980s, a competition was launched, and in November 1990
the project put forward by
Bordeaux architect Jacques Hondelatte
(1942-2002), awarded the Grand prix de l’architecture
in 1998, was chosen. The theme was “the balance of justice.”
It comprised two
triangular buildings adjoined
to form an isosceles
triangle, whose equal sides would run
parallel to Cours d’Albret and Rue des Frères Bonie.
The roofs did not slope at
the same angle, with one touching the ground on the side of the Fort du Hâ, and the other heading gently
towards Cours d’Albret. The facades
were composed of glass with marble slabs,
which made them translucent rather than transparent. The light did
not arrive, divine, from a well of heaven, but simply through these facades from
the street, and the gardens.
The light of mankind for mankind.
As for the interior, Jacques Hondelatte wanted the building to
be functional. Before taking part in the contest, he had
spent an endless amount of time questioning lawyers, judges, and all those having to live and work in a courthouse on a daily basis. Inside, he designed complex but flexible
routes, leading to areas designed
more in the style of meeting rooms than courtrooms. In the words of Jean Nouvel, the “project
was something of a
miracle.” Unfortunately, the competition
was cancelled. And when the Department of Justice launched a new competition
in 1992, it imposed a strict rule: those having won a cancelled competition no longer had the right to compete.
The new competition was won by an English architect,
Sir Richard Rogers. This time on the theme of “the transparency of justice.”
Built between 1994 and 1997, Bordeaux’s
new law courts are a parallelepiped
of glass, steel and wood.
The copper-clad structure contains
another, smaller glass parallelepiped, in which all the
offices of the judges and the various
departments are found. It is connected by bridges to a vast hall (corresponding to the kind of vast hall found traditionally on entering judicial buildings), in which the seven courtrooms are aligned in the form of pears, or cones, placed on concrete tripods, and which rise up to and through the roof. It is their zenithal opening that lets
the light into the building. Richard Rogers’ “great glazed box” is intended as an architectural
variation on the British adage “justice must not only
be done, but must be seen to be
done.” The seven cones in which the court proceedings take place were created from
wood. Whether required by Bordeaux or as a concession to … …
You can
now take the tram (Palais du Justice)
to Saint-Bruno. When you arrive,
© Bertrand Favreau
and Tyché Editions 2014
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